La Luna, El Sol
by Infamousplot
Summary: Isa has lived his entire life an outcast and a freak. Attention is the one thing he wants less than anything, so befriending the new boy Lea? BIG no-no. But Lea has made a beeline for him. Lea Isa FRIENDSHIP, pre-series through Birth By Sleep.
1. Nightmares

**The very first chapter of La Luna, El Sol! Yayz! **

**I don't own Lea, or Isa, or anything else Kingdom Hearts related. Except for Lea's world in the beginning. That belongs to me. Oh, and Lea's siblings. But they aren't important. Now, enjoy!**

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_"The horrors of that dreadful night are but too deeply impressed on our hearts."  
~Dr. Joseph Warren

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_

Screams pierce the air, joining together in a terrified chorus as I tear down the street. My thoughts are a jumbled train, strung together and trailing along behind me: _Where are they what's going on what's happening what are these things gotta get home gotta go fast oh my god there's on now get away from me get away get away get away…_ Panic seizes me as I leap to the side, narrowly avoiding one of those scuttling things. It pauses, looks at me as though it's sizing me up, and then scurries off, deciding I'm not worth it. I can feel my heart thumping wildly against my chest, threatening to explode at any moment. There's another scream somewhere, and I take off, feet slapping the gravel as I sprint toward home.

"Lea?" Voices croak as I fly by. "Lea- Lea, is that you?" I know these people. God, I know these people –these are people I've grown up with, people I've delivered papers to, people I've gotten in fights with or had defend me or just known them because of my parents. These are my neighbors, my schoolmates, everyone I've ever known is here –dying.

"Lea! Lea, please!" I can feel the prickling heat, burning the corner of my eyes. I want to help. I want to do _something_, but I can't. I don't have time. More screams explode around me, and I force myself to move faster, faster, forever faster. Any second now I will recognize those screams. Any second now those screams will be coming from them, and I can't let that happen. I have to get home, have to go faster, but my feet won't move as quickly as I'd like.

At some point I ditch my shoes, kicking them off, not bothering to watch them sail away or even to see where they end up. That doesn't matter. Nothing could matter less than that right now. I have to get there, have to _move_, but nothing seems to be fast enough.

People stand in crowds, circling around children like elephants around their young, beating off those monsters with anything they can find: baseball bats, fire pokers, golf clubs, hell, even boxing gloves! Anything that can be used as a weapon is utilized. Out of the corner of my eye, I swear I see one boy smacking one of those black things around with his shoes. I swallow the enormous lump that's sitting in my throat, because I know that boy, went to school with him and even told a bunch of older kids to leave'm alone. Got the crap beaten out of me for it, but I'd done it. I'd know his scream anywhere.

_Forget about him that doesn't matter gotta get home where's mom where's dad oh please let them be okay please let them be okay gotta be faster gotta get there please don't be too late please oh please oh please…_

Kids race the streets alone. Adults race past, shouting the names of their children. I see kids my age, kids years younger than me, tearing past with tear-streaked faces, screaming their lungs out as they call for their parents. I can feel the scream rumbling in my throat, dying to come out, but I fight it back, racing toward the house in the distance.

Standing stark and lonely, my house seems like a safe haven from this mess. Fear and adrenaline are coursing through me. I can't feel my fatigue, I don't feel tired at all. Just numb. Numb with an unspeakable terror.

Dirt flies as I skid to a halt, breathing ragged. A scream hits me like a bullet, the scream of a small child, and next thing I know I'm exploding through the door, ignoring it as it falls from its hinges and clatters against the floor. Frantic, feral, I focus in on the enemy: those _things_. Their glowing little eyes whirl to me, their antennae snapping curiously as I leap at them. I'm not thinking now, just acting.

"Lea!" Voices sob, some with terror, others with relief. Little hands cling to me, voices smother me; I ignore them.

"Get out of here." I snarl, shoving the tiny bodies away. Those monsters are filing in through the door, scurrying around like big fat ants. Vicious, blood thirsty ants. One makes a move, pouncing at my sister. Next thing I know, my Frisbee is embedded in its head. I watch as it squirms, then fades away, dissipating into shadows.

"L-Lea!" Lana sobs, her hands tugging on my shirt. "Lea, what about mommy?" My blood goes cold. "Th-Those monsters took mommy, Lea! Wh-Where is she?" I can't think, can't feel. Oh God. God, no, please oh please no. Not mom. No, no, no!

"Where's dad?" I manage, Frisbee digging into another one of those things and lopping its head clean off.

"Up-Upstairs," A younger brother, Sen, croaks. His eyes are wide and full to the brim with terror. All of them are terrified. Fire is coursing through me, a white hot instinct, and suddenly, I want to kill all of these miserable monsters for what they've done. Nobody does this to my family. Nobody hurts my little brothers and sisters. Nobody hurts mom!

I'm whirling and leaping and hacking and tearing these creepy black things to pieces, but it's never enough. They keep coming and coming, and no matter how many I mow down, more keep piling in. Screams are spilling down the stairs, and out of the corner of my eye I catch a glimpse of Kosa as he stumbles down, collapsing onto the floor. Lana shrieks in terror, and suddenly I'm watching a herd of those monsters swarm his body.

"Kosa!" A scream tears out –from my throat this time –and I'm upon him in seconds, tearing those things off and tossing them away, like they're nothing but dolls or pillows. I watch as they dig their claws into him. I watch as my older brother begins to fade.

"Kosaaa!" Lana is sobbing, on her knees with tears rolling down her cheeks. Sen is cornered against the wall, screaming for help as those things crawl closer. I can feel my legs carrying me between them, slicing through them automatically, without even thinking. I can't get that image out of my mind: Kosa vanishing like that. Gone. Lana screams, and before I can even look up, those _monsters_ are on her. A strange sound rips from inside me, and the next thing I know, I'm pulling that thing off her and tearing it apart.

Screams echo around. I can hear Sen screaming, Lana sobbing, my dad bellowing from upstairs for all of us to run. An older sister barrels down the stairs, clutching Ari in her arms as she kicks a few shadow-monsters out of her way.

"Lea, get up!" She snarls, her hand grabbing my shoulder and tearing me up from where I was beating the shadows.

"Wh-What about dad!" She's silent, pulling Sen up into her arms and pushing Lana's hand into mine. "Hanna? Hanna, what about dad? And Chrissa? Where's Silas?" I can feel my breathing growing more and more ragged, my voice catching on the ever-growing lump in my throat. Hanna isn't answering. She won't look at me. The world is blurring around me as water rolls down my cheeks. "No. No, no, no!" Lana is crying hard beside me, her hand holding onto mine like a lifeline.

"Pull yourself together Lea!" Hanna snarls, shoving me toward the door, kicking more and more monsters aside. I'm fighting to hold back the tears now, heaving Lana into my arms and carrying her with me. I can feel the heat of her tears as they slide down my back, trickling sadly behind us.

The sky is thick with a blanket of darkness. Everywhere, now, the little black things swarm. There's a terrible feeling welling up inside me, a horrible sickness that's turning itself over in my gut. My body quivers under Lana's weight, but I don't dare let go. I can feel them watching: millions of glowing yellow eyes burrowing into me, waiting for me to stumble, to fall or drop Lana, to lower my guard. I can't think, can't breathe, I can only run. It's like my feet have minds of their own, and they're doing all the thinking for me.

Kosa is gone. Mom is gone. Dad, I'm pretty sure he's gone too. Silas, Chrissa- oh God, poor Chrissa. And Uncle Lars, what happened to him? He'd left this morning, said something about visiting a friend, but had he come back? How could I know?

Hanna screams in front of me, jolting me out of my nightmare and back into this one: there are more of the shadows, leaping on her and pushing her down. Sen and Ari are howling. I don't think, I only act: Lana falls and I leap forward, tearing shadows off and tossing them away, grabbing for Sen's hand and trying to pull him free. _Not Sen Not Sen Please not Sen, please oh please oh please not Sen!_ I can hear his muffled cried, the fear hanging heavily around them, but Hanna's not there any more. Panic seizes me and I let out a strangled cry, yanking Sen out and thrusting him behind me, hacking through the shadows and screaming.

"Ari! Ari, Hanna!" Tears are streaking down my face and Sen is pulling on my arm, hiccupping loudly and shouting something about Lana. Lana. Oh God, no. Turning, relief nearly drowns me when I see her standing behind Sen, hugging tightly to him, tears streaming down from her bright green eyes.

"L-Lea, what's happening?" She sobs. My head is throbbing with images, and I'm still seeing Kosa vanish in my mind, as well as Hanna and little Ari. Why Ari? Why Chrissa? They were little, so little… Why did it have to be them?

The dark things keep coming, scurrying over where Hanna ought to be, and once more instinct takes over me. I'm shrieking like some sort of demon, slicing and hacking through those shadowy monsters and screaming for Sen to take Lana and run.

Time doesn't seem to pass as I shred my way through, banishing those little demons back into the darkness. And they all thought my Frisbees were stupid. I can hear my heart pounding wildly, the blood roaring through my head, and I can hardly breathe. I want to collapse, but I can't, because as soon as I do I'm dead. These things will kill me –they'll make me disappear. I don't know where I'll go, really, but I try not to think about it.

_Kosa. Hanna. Chrissa, Ari, Mom and Dad…_ My knees start to buckle as tears roll down my cheeks, but I fight it, digging the sharp side of my Frisbee into the head of one shadow and tearing it out quickly before turning and running. The only thing going through my mind now is the terrified looks on Sen and Lana's faces. All I can imagine is how scared they must be, and suddenly I'm overtaken by a horrifying thought: What if those things already got them?

"Sen! Lana!" I scream, my voice cracking and my throat aching. "Sen! Lana!" There is no response. The screams that filled the air have died, and all I can hear is the haunting scuttling sound of the shadows as they move around, some chasing me, others ignoring me. "Lana! Sen!" Oh God, please don't let them be hurt. Please don't let them be gone!

"Lea!" Lana's shriek sounds from somewhere, and immediately I turn toward it, following it like a beacon. I plod through shadows, ignoring their groping claws as I mow them down.

"Lana!" No response. "Lana?" Still nothing. There's an eerie silence, so much scarier than the screams, and my heart skips a beat. It's the only thing I can hear: pounding angrily in my ears, threatening to explode. "Lana!" My foot catches on something, probably one of those shadows, and I crash through the bushes, scrabbling quickly to my feet. My arms and legs ache, my vision is blurring: I'm just so tired, but I can't stop, can't rest. "Lana!" I choke, scanning wildly. "Lana, where are you?" Why won't she answer? She can't be dead, I promised I'd look after her! I told mom and dad I'd make sure she was safe! I- I…

"Lea…" A soft voice croaks, and I feel myself dying inside.

"Lana?" I whimper, trying to find the voice. No, that's not Lana's voice… "Sen? Sen, where are you?" I choke, pulling branches aside and batting shadows away. My hearts stops, and an inhuman sound comes keening from my throat. "Sen!"

Sen manages a weak little smile, just before his body begins to turn to darkness: fading away. "Sen!" I'm screaming now, trying to grab him, but my hands pass straight through him. "Sen!" I sound like an animal. I _feel_ like an animal, too. Rage is burning inside of me, flying through my veins.

"Bring him back!" I scream, flinging myself at the nearest shadow and tearing its head off. "Bring him back!" They're climbing all over me, but I knock them away: ripping heads off, hacking them in half, destroying as many as I can. I am completely feral, nothing but raw instinct. _"Bring him back!"_ But they won't. And I can't. Because he's gone. Just like the others. Like everyone, everyone in this town, in this world. Gone.

"Sen! Lana! Hanna, somebody, any one!" I'm sobbing now, shoving the shadows away and trying to make a break for it. "Somebody! Somebody, please!" Sobs wrack my chest; I can feel myself caving in piece by piece. "_Somebody!"_

Nobody answers, though. Because there's nobody left to answer. I'm on my knees now, crying as the shadows swarm, swirling around with a terrifying curiosity.

"Get away from me!" I feel my arms fly about, feel my Frisbees dig into the shadowy flesh and then rip back out. I don't know what to do. I'm all alone. Everyone is gone. I couldn't protect my family.

I failed.

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**;; For those of you who are confused, Lea's world is being destroyed by Heartless. **

**Uhm, I'm not really sure what I should write here. This is my first attempt at a real, long story. And no, it will not be yoai. If you read this, please review. Constructive criticism is valued, and flames will be used to ward off Heartless. Thank you!**

**~Ip**


	2. Freaks of a Feather

**Okay. I haven't done anything with LLES for a long time. But I'm NOT abandoning this fic. I already have it played out in my mind, and have no intentions of leaving it unfinished. I have decided that, in order to start on this again, I'd have to fix this chapter. I never liked it. I changed tenses half way through and it was really rushed at the end. Soooo... I fixed the tense problem, I chopped and prettied up some bits, and now I'm ready to finish the fourth chapter and put it up. **

**Special thanks to RISING FLURRY, who has stuck by me and supported this fic. I'll have the next chapter up ASAP. And thanks to the new reviewers too! You were the final push that made me realize I have to fix this thing already!  
**

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_"It takes two to get one in trouble."_

_Mae West_

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You're 13 years old and you still don't have a best friend.

I know I had a friend once. Some girl, I think her name started with a D, or maybe an F, but I can't really be sure. Our moms were real close, and one of us would always tag along so we could see each other. We were six when I last saw her. I can't remember if her eyes were blue or brown, or if her hair was long or not, but I know that she was always laughing and always smiling. We used to play at the park and run around in the plaza, before all those other kids became obsessed with sparring and picked fights whenever they could, back in the good old days. We used to spend hours together splashing in the fountain, or chasing after pigeons and stray cats. Once we'd scared off all the animals, we'd take turns chasing one another around, until finally our mothers would come and carry us off, and we'd wave sleepy-eyed goodbyes over their shoulders.

And then she moved. She was gone. After that day, I never saw her again. I never heard from her or about her, and no one else seemed to care, so eventually I just stopped asking. It's been seven years now, I have no idea what she looked like or what her name was. I also haven't had another friend since that day. Welcome to my life.

I guess it's not that bad being the only kid in my grade –okay, the only kid in my school –who doesn't have any friends. I have some acquaintances, and teachers like me well enough. I'm known for being a good boy. I have a good reputation, at the least, amongst the grown-up population of Radiant Garden. So being friendless isn't all that bad. Especially when you have a "condition" like mine.

Up until this point in life, friendship had never been a huge deal for me. I see the cliques at school –rival packs on the prowl in a constant scrabble for dominance –and the so-called "best friends" that stab one another in the back. No thanks. I'd rather be alone, doing my own thing, then put up with all the drama involved in the sorts of friendships I've seen.

Ever since my dad left… I decided that I didn't need any friends. All I needed was my mom, and to be able to take care of myself. Friendship was trivial, and even if it weren't, nobody wanted to hang out with a freak like me. Except, maybe, another freak. But around here, I was as strange as they came.

And then he showed up.

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The first time I ever saw the boy with the Frisbees was on the last week before summer vacation…

It was one of those days where the heat was sweltering, and the air was so humid you could almost swim in it. My hair was sticking to the back of my neck and I'd ditched my sweater somewhere in the woods hours ago. Sure, I was alone, but I hadn't felt this free in a long time.

There was only one week before summer vacation. One more week until total freedom! No school for three whole months! No more putting up with those idiots I call my classmates! Anything was possible, or at least that's how it felt.

Tromping through the forest, I reveled in the shade. The sun was just dipping beyond the distance, casting long spindly shadows over the ground. The air was still moist, still warm and muggy and swamped with mosquitoes, but it was finally starting to cool down. I took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of the woods. I couldn't help but smile. I loved this place. No one else was ever out here; they were all playing in the plaza or sparring with each other for kicks. Out here, everything was peaceful…

If I could have predicted what my summer would be like, I never would have guessed that he would have factored into the equation. I never thought I'd find a boy lying unconscious on the outskirts of town. I never imagined I'd find some scraggly, half-dead kid barely breathing and clinging to life right outside my home. The thought never crossed my mind, not in the slightest. Sometimes though, things happen that no one can predict…

The sun was sinking slowly and steadily, casting the world of Radiant Garden in an orange glow. It was getting late, but since it was summer, it would probably still be light out for a while, so I wasn't worried. Part of me knew I should get home, but another part of me didn't want to go yet.

I only came out here when I wanted –needed- to be alone. Most of the time, I came out here to get away from them, the kids at school. Like today.

Plowing through the layer of dead leaves that coated the forest floor, I sighed loudly, knowing no one could hear me. I didn't really want to go home yet. I knew if I did, I'd need to explain myself to mom, tell her why I was so late, apologize, the usual. But I didn't want to tell her why I'd come out here. Still, the longer I stayed out here, the more I'd have to explain. I just couldn't win.

If there's anything you should know about me, it's that I'm… Different. That's the easiest way to put it. I'm not normal, which is why everyone has found it easiest to make me their target. People don't want to hang out with a freak. They make them feel like they're lower, so they can walk all over them and seem cooler to the world. Or some sort of crap like that. Which is why I'm out here, and why I can't go home. Because then I'll have to tell my mom that I was being "bullied" –again –and then she might call the school. And _then_ things would get about a hundred times worse than they already are. And, in case you couldn't tell, they're pretty bad to begin with. Which brings us back to why I'm out here. I guess you could say I'm hiding. From school, from home, from my life… Frankly, I'm hiding from everything.

A small sound caught in my ear, suddenly. A whimper, so soft and silent that I almost didn't hear it. Halting, I stood stalk still, listening to the trees as they whispered to one another in the wind and trying to hear that sound again. Sure enough, there it was: a tiny whine, so tiny it was almost nonexistent. Staring toward the wall of bushes that hid the brook from view, I felt myself frowning. What if it was some wild animal? Or something feral? Instincts screamed for me to turn around and march straight home. Something else –I believe it's called stupidity –urged me to take a look. Sometimes being stupid can be a good thing, though.

Bursting through the bushes, a flash of red caught my eye, and as I turned to see whatever it was, I felt my heart skip in my chest. The next thing I knew I was on the ground, staring in horror.

"Oh my god." Someone was lying on the riverbed, unmoving. "Oh my god." My voice was weak, nothing more than a shaky breath. Some kid I'd never seen before, strange clothes and a shock of red hair, was sprawled out there on the edge of the brook, soaked and covered in dirt. Shaking, I forced myself to my feet.

"H-Hello?" My voice wavered, hoping for some response. The body remained motionless. "Uh, hello? Are-Are you okay?" Nothing. Oh God, he was dead. Panicking, I allowed myself to draw a little closer. Crap. Oh crap, oh crap. Wasn't this just my luck? Finding a dead guy out in the middle of the woods, with no one else around as my witness. What if they thought it was me? What if- Oh God, what if the killer was still around?

There was a slight twitch, and the boy rolled over, moaning quietly.

"S-Sen…" He murmured, eyes scrunching angrily. A nervous breath escaped my throat. I don't think I'd ever felt more relieved. He was alive.

"Hello?" On my knees, I prodded at his shoulder. The kid let out a tiny grunt, almost irritated. "Are you okay?" I asked quietly, shaking him a little. He still wasn't moving. He felt cold, and his clothes were still sopping. His orange vest was muddy and his shorts were splotched with dirt and dead leaves, the weird yellow scarf thing around his neck was scraggly and ruined, and his red hair was in a moppy, muddy mess atop his head. He looked kind of like a zombie.

"Dad?" He mumbled suddenly, his voice escaping in a tiny, hopeful huff. The muddy body shifted a bit, and for a moment, it looked like he might wake up. Then, he froze, and slumped down again, though his chest continued to rise and fall in a ragged sort of way. Everything about him looked ragged and mangled. Like he'd been tied to the back of a truck and dragged around for a few days. Getting to my feet, I looked around, for once wishing that someone else were around.

"Hello?" I called hopefully, knowing no one would answer me. Sometimes I wish I wasn't always right.

Sighing, I glanced down at the boy, who still looked dead, save for the rising chest, and wondered why bad things were always happening to me. I'd never done anything wrong. I hadn't asked to be cursed, or to grow up without any fatherly guidance, or to be ostracized by my grade, and I certainly hadn't asked to find some dying kid out in the middle of the woods! But, as I'd learned to do with most of the bad things that came my way, I sucked it up.

Heaving the soggy body over my shoulder, I was careful to pick up the two spiked discs that fell from it before slogging slowly –but surely –home.

* * *

There are three kinds of trouble in the world: The kind that you look for, the kind that looks for you, and the worst kind, the kind that stalks you relentlessly no matter how hard you try to shake it. Forget the fact that you did nothing to deserve it. It's knows how to find you, and it's not leaving until it's made your life a living hell. I wouldn't learn the name of that third type of trouble until later on, but at the moment, it was coming in the form of an obnoxious red head with Frisbees.

"That's the new kid, right?" A voice whispered to my right. I ignored it, like I always did.

"Yeah. I heard about him." Another kid hissed, cupping his hand over his mouth as though it made him silent. He was an idiot, but, he always had been.

"I heard he lives on the streets." A girl muttered darkly, like it was some sort of crime. She was an idiot too. Then again, as far as I was concerned, everyone here was an idiot. And no, I'm not arrogant. Or in denial, thank you very much.

"Really? I heard he ran away, and ended up here." Yet another voice proclaimed, adding to the growing pool of whispered explanations for his appearance.

"Someone said they saw him digging through a dumpster somewhere the other day."

"Huh. I think someone else said something about some red head mugging them, just yesterday."

"I heard he's not from here." A silence fell over the murmuring crowd, awkward and heavy. I felt myself tensing up as I tried to keep walking, the silence clinging to me and holding me in place. "I heard he comes from out there." The suffocating quiet broke, rumors and accusations spilling out.

"What a freak."

"I know. And have you seen those stupid Frisbees he's always playing with? How old is he? Three?"

"I know, right? What a loser." Laughter buzzed around me like bees, maddening. I wanted to shove my hands in my ears and scream for them all to just shut up already, but of course I didn't. After all, their attention was focused on him, right? Why bring it back to me?

The heat blazed down as I made my way through the plaza, shimmering over the cobblestone and blurring my vision. The fountain was looking more and more refreshing by the minute, with its roaring water and the cool breeze that wafted around it. I had half a mind to just jump right in, but then I'd have to trudge around with wet clothes for the rest of the day. Sighing, I pushed onward, my grip on my notebook tight to the point of paranoia. Plenty of people around here would love to take it and toss it in the fountain, or read it aloud and embarrass me. If I tried to put up a fight –not a good idea without a weapon –then I'd be beaten into a miserable pulp.

There was a quiet tapping of shoes behind me, and when I turned my head, I managed to catch a glimpse of red out of the corner of my eye. In my mind, many swears were forming, though none of them made it to my mouth.

Why did he have to follow me? Why couldn't he just forget everything and let me be? Yes, I'd –technically –saved him, but that didn't mean I wanted anything more to do with him. It wasn't like I could just leave him out there half-dead in the middle of the woods. That would be like murder, leaving him to die.

Sure I'd dragged him into Radiant Garden. Yes, I'd spent most of my night explaining the situation to the man at the general hospital, and yes, my mother had been ready to kill me by the time I crawled through the door (sometime after eleven, I think), but that didn't mean I was going to be all buddy-buddy with him now. I'd made a point of not telling my mom what had happened, and not letting anyone at school know about my connection to "The Freak with the Frisbees."

How had he even found out that I'd been the one to drag him back here? The man at the General Hospital must have said something about a kid with blue hair. God, I hated my hair. Talk about a dead giveaway. No wonder he's been able to find me so easily. I'm like a crow in a flock of swans. That analogy made me pause, and I grimaced. Great. I was a blue crow.

"Hey, freak!" A voice called from behind, and upon instinct I looked back, surprised to find that for once I wasn't the one being addressed.

The boy with the Frisbees halted, turning to face another boy with a mass of spiked hair and a Light Club in his grip.

"Yo! You, weirdo with the Frisbees! Where do ya think you're going?" He sneered. I turned away, continuing toward home. I didn't need to see those two idiots duke it out. This was a normal ritual in the Plaza –teenage boys sparring for power. Boys battled boys, girls battled girls, hell, sometimes girls would even challenge the boys. They usually won, but it wasn't like they made challenges recklessly. They knew what they were doing.

I stopped to glance back one last time, watching as the two bodies ended up tangled, spiked hair moving in blurs, long bony arms flailing and colliding with one another, and Frisbees smashing against faces. The Frisbee kid fought like some wild animal, flailing his limbs crazily and hoping he'd land a hit. He was fast. I gave him that. Not skilled, exactly, but very fast.

If there's one thing I'll ever be thankful for, it's the short attention span of most kids my age. Within seconds, the battle was heated and surrounded by a tight loop of eager bystanders, cheering and hooting and egging them on. In only a moment, I was forgotten, sealed out of the crowd and left to be on my way. For a moment (_only_ a moment) this thought depressed me, but I shook it off just as fast and continued on my way home.

As far as I'm concerned, around here it's better to be forgotten than remembered. Especially when there's nothing good for them to remember you by.

* * *

A homey little two-story house stared at me in an almost irritated way as I shouldered my backpack and shoved open the door. I could practically hear it asking "Now where have you been?" It's voice sounded suspiciously like my mother's. Of course, it was only my imagination. I may be a considered a freak, but it's _not _because I talk to inanimate objects.

If the day went as normal, my mother wouldn't be home until well after ten- if I was lucky. The house breathed out quietly as I stepped in, and I imagined I could hear it scolding me as I drop my bag on the floor and slam the door shut. For a minute the sound echoed, then it fell silent. It's just me.

Pulling up a seat at the table, I click on the radio and fiddle with the knob for a few minutes before splaying my homework out around me. My radio is nothing special -in fact it's pretty old. My mom had given it to me for my birthday a few years ago, and even though it was staticky and out of fashion, I loved it. Through my years of school it's been my constant homework companion.

It murmured in the background as I pulled out a pencil. It talked about the King and his latest plans, about the economy in Radiant Garden and about the recent astronomical phenomena that took place only a few nights ago: the huge explosion of light in the sky, and one of the brightest stars had blinked out and never came back. No one had any explanation for it. I hadn't seen it, only heard about it. Someone said that the star had died, but dead stars didn't explode randomly. I would have looked more into it (astronomy and astrology are sort of my thing), but with the mountains of homework the teachers had dumped on us -a going away gift before vacation, perhaps? -I hadn't gotten a chance.

My pencil tapped against the table in a steady beat. I chewed on my eraser as the math problems on my paper swam around in my head, the equations quickly untying themselves one at a time. I scrawled down each answer, not really thinking about it as I did. I didn't need to. It just came to me.

The house was empty. I was alone. It wasn't like this was something new, though. Most of my afternoons have been spent in the kitchen, sitting at our nice round table with no one but the radio and the countless equations to keep me company. It's not that bad, really. I actually prefer to be alone. In case you couldn't tell, I'm not a big people-person. And thanks to my dad, I'm alone for at least six hours every day of the week.

The afternoon slogged by in an ordinary way. Due to last night's events, my mom placed me under strict house arrest. My homework is done diligently, like a good little boy. I ate the dinner that she left in the fridge –TV dinner. Yum. Hours inched by with just the radio and me, me poking at the rubbery food and staring at the tiled walls, the radio whispering in a staticky voice. Every now and then, I glanced at the clock, but the time never seemed to change.

Eventually, I gave up and trudged up to bed, dragging my backpack behind me. I'd been hoping I could wait for my mom to return, but for all I knew, she might have gotten caught with a late shift again. There were times when I hated my mom's job, but never her. I knew it wasn't her fault. It wasn't her fault she had to raise a kid on her own. It isn't her fault she has to work all day just to pay the bills and keep us heated and sheltered and fed. And it isn't her fault she'd married an asshole who'd abandoned her as soon as the getting was good. So, no, I'd never, ever hate my mom. I don't even think it's possible to hate a woman who has dedicated her entire life to my well-being.

Pushing open my door, I stared into the blackness. I didn't bother to turn on the lights as I kicked off my shoes and plopped down on the bed. The half-moon cast light through the cracks in my window shades, drawing slanted lines across the covers and the floor. I shuddered. In a few weeks –two, actually –the full moon would come around again.

I hated the full moon. It only came once a month, and in my opinion that was one time too many.

The house creaked quietly as I laid there, making shapes in the shadows and wondering when my mom would be home. I found my mind wandering to the kid with Frisbees, and I couldn't help but wonder when he would stop following me. The light of the moon wavered slightly as clouds sailed past it, bathing the room in an unholy darkness and allowing my eyelids to finally feel the weight of exhaustion. Yawning, I pulled a quilt over my head and rolled over, squeezing my eyes shut.

This was my life. This was the way it'd always been, and the way it was sure to stay for years to come. Or so I thought.

You just love messing with things though, don't you?

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**Okay, I think this was a little better. I still think the end was too choppy, but I'm more concerned with getting the rest out. I hope you guys are ready! Sorry for leaving this thing alone for so long -.- But I can't abandon it, it's supposed to have sequels! Aw, crap, I said that out loud...**


	3. El Sol en la Noche

**H-Hi there everyone (hides behind shield). Sorry it took so long to update this... That is, if there's anyone out there still reading it. After busting my you-know-what over that Isa chapter and getting no response, I was deflated and I decided not to post this chapter until i got a review. So, thank you RISING FLURRY for your review, and for reading this for me! You rock! XD **

**It amazes me that I spent weeks dying over Isa chapter, yet I flew right through this one. I guess Lea's just easier to write for... Anyway, if you people are still out there, please drop me a review. Thanks ^_^  
**

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_I cannot walk through the suburbs in the solitude of the night _

_Without thinking that the night pleases us _

_Because it suppresses idle details, _

_Just as our memory does. _

_ ~Jorge Luis Borges  


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_

_They're coming they're coming oh God oh God they're coming they're here they're here what do I do what do I do what do I do? They're coming they're coming there's too many of them I can't stop them oh man oh man what should I do how can I sop them no no no no NO-_

Something –I don't know what –rips me from slumber. Darkness is everywhere, and for a minute I can't help thinking "Oh God it's still happening", when I notice the brick walls on either side of me, and my beating heart finally starts to relax. They aren't here. This is a safe place. I'm alright.

My hands and arms look pale. Pasty. My hair and clothes are drenched with sweat, and plastered against my body. My heart is hammering a million miles a minute, my breathing is ragged, and each pant hurts my throat. I clutch it, wondering if I'd been screaming. I wonder if anyone heard me. I wonder if anyone will do something about it.

I can feel the tears springing to my eyes, clogging up my throat, and I force them back, swallowing hard. It hurts, but I suck it up. Because what else can I do?

The streets of this world are barren. Empty, save for the wandering strays, like cats and dogs and of course me. I grin to myself, trying to calm my quivering body. Lea the stray. I laugh a little, but it sounds hollow, fake. The streets are empty, my smile, my grin, everything is emptied of its usual light. The streetlights are dim, it's so late, there's no one left to light the way for.

There's no more reason for the light to hit my face. No reason for it to reflect. Why should I smile? Why should I laugh? I'm alone here. I swallow the stone in my throat, glaring up at the flickering lamppost. It seems brighter than the others, but I can see it struggling. Every few seconds, it'll dim just a little. Flicker, waver, until finally, it'll blink out like all the rest. I turn away and try hard not to think of all the lights I've left behind.

My feet tap quietly against the cobbled stone. I shiver, stuffing my hands into my pockets. So much for summer. Why does this world have to be so damn cold every night? This world… This weird, bizarre world.

It's been at least a week since I woke up here. I was soaking wet, lying on some hospital bed alone. When I'd first woken up to the blinding white, I'd thought I was dead. Then, when I'd realized where I was, I'd been convinced it was all just some crazy dream. And then the man had come in. He'd begun talking to me, telling me how I'd "given him quite a scare" and asking me all sorts of questions about who I was and where my parents were. The words refused to come out at first, and so I sat there, mouth opening and closing as I floundered like a fish. Hah! Imagine that. Me, Lea, unable to speak. There really is a first time for everything.

When I'd finally managed to utter something intelligent, something about the Center Piece and the monsters, the man decided to check my temperature. The words that had first been plugged up now flowed, and I couldn't get them to stop.

"Did you see them? Those weird black things? You know, the ones with the yellow eyes, that looked like ants? They were everywhere, you must have seen them. I was fighting them. Everyone was, really, but I was trying to stop them from attacking my sister. And my brother. Have you seen them? Are they here? They must be worried." I blathered on like this for a few minutes, these chains of thought floating straight out my mouth the moment they came to mind. The longer I talked, the more I realized what was going on. The more I remembered. And oh God, oh God no, that couldn't be it. The visions playing in my head, the screams and the darkness, that couldn't be what had really happened, right?

I felt two warm streams trickling from my eyes, and the next thing I knew, I was sobbing. Because it was all real, wasn't it? Those monsters… Mom, and dad, and Lana and Sen and Hanna, all of them… They were really dead. And the Center Piece –my world, my home, it was gone too. It had really been destroyed. Tears streaked down my dirty face, and the doctor just stood there, patting my shoulder a little in an attempt to comfort me. It wasn't much, but hey, he made an effort, right?

They showed me to the shower, and in another fit of absolute silence, I went along with it. I stood beneath the stream of hot water for almost an hour, letting the dirt that was caked onto me wash away, down the drain. Now all I needed was for those horrible memories to go along with it. I imagine them dribbling down, swirling around and around and then disappearing down the drain.

No such luck.

The nurse had my clothes cleaned and ready for me when I came out. Again, in utter silence, I took them and pulled them on. I couldn't speak. Too many things were fighting within my mind, and I didn't dare open my mouth, for fear of what might come out.

These thoughts did not calm down, but eventually I spoke.

"Where am I?" I whispered, my voice surprisingly hoarse. The doctor looked up from his clipboard, confused.

"Radiant Garden, son." He chuckled, like I was some little kid who had just asked an obvious question. Stupid, but at the same time cute.

"How did I get here?" This question was aimed more at myself than anyone else, but the man answered any way.

"Some kid brought you in here yesterday." He chuckled. I frowned, nodding slowly. Okay. I hadn't meant how did I get here specifically, more how did I get to some place called Radiant garden when the Center Piece was floating in a million pieces somewhere in space, but that worked too. "A boy around your age, I think. Blue hair, very quiet." The doctor smiled, placing his clipboard down. "He dragged you all the way here from out in the middle of the woods." I nodded again, absorbing his words like I sponge. That was me. Lea the sponge.

"Yup. Said that he'd found you lying in the riverbed, unconscious. You're lucky you weren't running a fever. Who knows how long you'd been out there." He continued bustling about the room, almost like I wasn't there. I felt myself nodding, even though he wasn't looking. I had no idea how long I'd been out. Or how long I'd been here. I didn't know anything. All I knew was that I was that –aside from all of the terrors lying in my mind –I was in some place called "Radiant Garden" and I'd been "rescued" by some kid with blue hair. Well. That was a good start.

After about a day of sitting in that stupid room, answering their weird questions and letting them run my physicals and check to see if I was sick or carrying any diseases or radioactive (just kidding), they turned me lose. Go, be free, little psycho kid! How nice of them, turning loose the legally-orphaned kid into the streets. Now what was I supposed to do?

Honestly, what was I supposed to do? I've never been the kind of person to dwell on my problems. Whenever faced with an issue, I either run straight at it, or try to sweet talk my way around it. I don't do "angsting it up" or "being emo about it." But there are some things that I just can't ignore. I can't ignore the fact that my family is dead. I can't ignore the fact that my entire world has been wiped out, obliterated, and that I'm possibly the only survivor. I'm a refugee. An orphaned refugee. Boy, won't that be a fun conversation starter?

I didn't want to think about what had happened on that night, however many days ago it had been. I still don't want to think about it. Those shadows, those horrible monsters, they're still lurking in the back of my mind, where I have banished them until I'm ready to face them. I didn't want to focus on the fact that I was virtually alone, and responsible for the fact that my family was gone. So instead, I focused on something else entirely.

The blue-haired kid.

Ah, yes. The blue-haired boy who had so selflessly brought me to the hospital to ensure my survival. You'd think he'd be nice, right? Wrong. Honestly, if he were really that great, then he probably would have stuck around to see if I'd survived. Instead of being a wonderful savior, he was a stuck up brat with this "better-than-thou" attitude. Charming, no? Let's not forget the fact that he hasn't spoken a single word to me. Or, that he walks as fast as he can whenever he sees me coming toward him (in the opposite direction), and those wonderful scowls he shoots whenever I'm hanging around. So much for thanking him.

There is a flash, and I'm suddenly jerked from my thoughts. My eyes whirl around through the darkness, wondering what had just happened, when I notice that my shadow has disappeared. I glance behind me, but I don't see anything.

The lamp has gone out.

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**There you go, Lea's chapter. Next up is Isa again... Crap. That will take awhile T.T**

**Thanks again to FLURRY-chan, and remember people, review! Or I'll sic the psycho kid on you!  
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